‘Low’ Claims May Mislead, Consumers Embrace Holistic Eating

`Nixtamalization affects tamales’ fiber
A study published in the Journal of Food Science explores the effects of three nixtamalization processes—ways of preparing maize—on the chemical composition, starch properties, and glycemic index of tamales.

Tamales are currently produced by traditional nixtamalization by cooking maize kernels in water with calcium hydroxide (lime). However, this process decreases nutrients such as fat, protein, dietary fiber, and various nutraceutical compounds. An ecological nixtamalization process replaces the lime with calcium carbonate and shows that the nutrient deterioration found in traditional processes can be reduced. In addition, other researchers have reported improvements in the nutrition profile of tortillas made with classic nixtamalization, in which lime is replaced by wood ashes.

The researchers found that the calcium sources used in the nixtamalization process affected the structure and functionality of starch in the tamales. The ecological nixtamalization and classic nixtamalization processes produced tamales with higher resistant starch formation than native maize or maize boiled without salts. In addition, the tamales made with the classic and ecological nixtamalization processes exhibited the highest total, soluble, and insoluble dietary fiber content and lower in vivo glycemic index compared to tamales elaborated with the traditional nixtamalization process.

“Tamales from ecological nixtamalization processes could represent potential health benefits associated with the reduction on blood glucose response after consumption,” the researchers note.

‘Low’ claims may mislead consumers
Consumers seem more aware than ever of the role that food plays in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and many may be drawn to foods that claim to contain less of the things they associate with being “bad,” such as fat, sugar, and sodium. Because these kinds of claims do not conform to a standard form of measurement, however, consumers may be confused about the real nutritional value and make choices that do not necessarily reflect the best options, according to a study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Examining data that included more than 80 million food and beverage purchases from more than 40,000 households, researchers from the Duke-UNC USDA Center for Behavioral Economics and Healthy Food Choice Research found that while products with these types of claims had lower mean energy, total sugar, total fat, and sodium densities, they did not always represent the best nutritional value. “This is likely due in part to ‘low’ or ‘reduced’ claims being relative within brands or specific food categories,” explains lead investigator Lindsey Smith Taillie, researcher and assistant professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “A key question for future research will be to examine how these claims affect consumer choice, as well as how claims interact with other common strategies, like sales or price promotions, to influence purchasing behavior and ultimately, dietary quality.”

Consumers embrace holistic eating
New research from Mintel shows that Canadian consumers are branching out and willing to try new foods to improve their health, with 45% interested in new foods linked to boosting health, including chia seeds and spirulina, and more than one-third try to include superfood ingredients, such as kale, broccoli, or quinoa, in their meals.

According to the research, 63% of Canadian consumers say that what they eat affects their emotional well-being, and 84% say it impacts their physical health. In addition, 40% say they do online research to learn which foods to eat to address a specific need, such as adding energy, treating acid reflux, or improving skin.

“We’ve seen a rise in the trend of ‘beauty from within,’ which has increased attention toward eating foods that improve outward appearance and encourages consumers to seek out foods that address their specific health and wellness needs,” says Carol Wong-Li, senior lifestyles and leisure analyst at Mintel. “Marketers would do well to address this trend by including messages of how their food products fit into healthy eating habits and how the combination of the two can naturally boost one’s mood.”

Frozen, fresh produce offer same nutrients
Frozen food often gets short shrift from consumers, who may associate it with an image of sodium-heavy, nutritionally deficient options. Recent research published in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, however, finds that frozen produce is generally nutritionally equivalent to fresh produce.

The study, which was conducted by the University of Georgia (UGA) in partnership with the Frozen Food Foundation, compared the nutrient content of eight commonly purchased frozen and fresh fruits and vegetables throughout a storage process that mimicked the way consumers would typically store them. Each kind of fruit and vegetable— blueberries, strawberries, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, green peas, and spinach—was analyzed under three conditions: frozen, fresh (on the day of purchase), and fresh-stored (after five days of storage in a refrigerator). Researchers found that frozen fruits and vegetables were “nutritionally equal to—and in some cases better than—their fresh-stored counterparts,” says UGA professor and IFT member Ronald Pegg, who led the study. “In particular, vitamin A was greater in frozen fruits and vegetables than select fresh-stored fruits and vegetables.”

Listeria may hide in romaine tissue
The potentially lethal pathogen Listeria monocytogenes can live inside the tissue of romaine lettuce, meaning that traditional postharvest sanitization practices may not be enough to combat the deadly bacteria, according to new Purdue University research.

In the study, which was published in the Journal of Food Protection, contaminated seeds (with a relatively short exposure time of 30 minutes) grew into contaminated plants. These were shown to contain Listeria cells in all major tissue types of the plant, and the pathogen’s presence in the plant vasculature also suggests the potential for Listeria to move throughout the plant into edible tissue. Listeria can remain in the lettuce for up to 60 days or until the time of harvest.

“Knowing this can happen, we need to keep it on our radar as we continue to follow good agricultural practices,” says Amanda Deering, clinical assistant professor in the Dept. of Food Science. “For immune-compromised consumers, it’s important to remember that canned or cooked produce is better.”

Meanwhile, researchers at the Purdue Center for Food Safety Engineering are working on detection technologies to find preharvest control strategies to prevent produce contamination.

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News Bites
• AIDP signed an exclusive agreement with Anagenix to market its kiwifruit-based ingredients, ACTAZIN and LIVAUX.

• Applied Food Sciences was issued a patent for producing guayusa extract featuring caffeine and chlorogenic acids from a single-source plant.

• BI received the American Herbal Products Assoc.’s Industry Leader award. It also announced its recent membership with the Natural Products Assoc.

• Conagra Brands will acquire Thanasi Foods, maker of Duke’s meat snacks, and BIGS, maker of BIGS seeds.

• Cornell University will receive $10.5 million in UK aid investment from the British people to help an international consortium of plant breeders, pathologists, and surveillance experts overcome diseases hindering global food security efforts.

• DuPont entered into a definitive agreement with FMC Corp. to divest a portion of DuPont’s Crop Protection business and to acquire substantially all of FMC’s Health & Nutrition business.

• Edlong Dairy Technologies introduced a new tagline, “The Scientific Art of Authentic Taste.”

• Global Organics is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

• The Gluten Intolerance Group published an industry agreed-upon definition and requirements for operating under a “Purity Protocol” for gluten-free oats.

• IOI Loders Croklaan expanded its production facility in Rexdale, Canada.

• JBT Corp. purchased Avure Technologies, a leading provider of high pressure processing systems.

• Kemin launched an updated website for its North America Food Technologies division at kemin.com/kemindifference.

• Milk Specialties Global became the first U.S.–based company to market calcium caseinate produced from rBGH-free, non-GM, U.S. skim milk.

• MORRE-TEC Industries celebrated its 30th anniversary.

• The Ohio State University recently received some equipment donations for its pilot plant at the Wilbur A. Gould Food Industries Center, including an HTST pasteurizer skid and homogenizer and an Expander-Extruder-Cooker.

• OFD Foods, a supplier of freeze-dried food for the U.S. military, will build a new 50,000-square-foot facility in Henrietta, N.Y.

• The Organic & Natural Health Assoc. announced its partnership with HRI Labs to test its members’ raw ingredients and finished products for pesticide residue.

• Palsgaard achieved CO₂ neutrality at its plant in San Luís Potosí, Mexico.

• PepsiCo will build a new manufacturing plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

• Ready Pac Foods entered into an agreement to become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bonduelle Group.

• The Research Chefs Assoc. unveiled a newly refreshed brand through the launch of an updated mission, vision, tagline, and a redesigned logo.

• Symrise received top marks in three areas of the Carbon Disclosure Project’s company rankings and received good marks in the British sustainability index FTSE4Good.

• Taiyo became the exclusive distributor of Benexia’s new chia oil, which is produced via a proprietary process that guarantees a shelf life of up to two years and stable delivery of nutrient value while maintaining good flavor and aroma.

• Tate & Lyle opened a co-generation plant at its corn wet milling facility in Loudon, Tenn., and unveiled its upgraded Food Systems Global Innovation Centre in Lübeck, Germany.

• IFTSA President Matt Teegarden was honored with the Outstanding Graduate/Professional Student Award at the 2017 Ohio State Leadership Awards.

• TOP BV entered into a collaboration with Inholland College wherein students will work on three cases that TOP has created.

 

Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, Associate Editor
[email protected]